Sugar and Spice - Prologue
Prologue
In a little town in California, a young boy was out enjoying the sun, playing with his dogs, and enjoying his last days of summer vacation. Jensen Ackles was thirteen years, six months, two days, fifteen hours, and fifty-three minutes old on this fine day. His dogs, Sadie and Harley were enjoying the summer day too, chasing after squirrels and dragonflies without a care in the world.
So engrossed were these three in their fun that they never noticed how far they had strayed from home. Their games had led them to a field alongside the freeway where they continued to play, never seeing the large truck speeding down the road towards them until it struck the two dogs, killing them instantly.
To his credit, the truck driver did stop to speak to the distraught young boy, apologizing for killing his dogs. But moments later he was back on the road, hurrying to reach his destination with his precious cargo; the truckload of tomatoes were already three hours behind schedule. The driver was just happy that the dogs showed no outer signs of injury apart from their lack of life- he might have felt guilty if the boy had had to witness something even more traumatizing.
Jensen remained sitting on the ground between his two dogs, at a complete loss as to what he should do. Though he was not unfamiliar with the pain that came with losing a loved one, death had not entered his life until this precise moment in time.
He stayed on the ground staring at two of his best friends in the whole world until he finally gave into his grief and reached out to touch both of his dogs. The moment he touched them, there was a brief flash of golden light between his fingers and their fur. The next thing he knew, both Sadie and Harley were standing up again, barking at him in concern, and running around him in circles.
Jensen stared at them in shock before he started to smile, excited and relieved to have his dogs back with him even if he didn’t understand what had happened.
Tired from everything that had just occurred, young Jensen and the dogs headed back home to where his mom was undoubtedly waiting for him with something freshly baked. It was a tradition he had come to count on-this abundance of fresh baked goods-something that always brought a smile to his face and his mom’s, no matter the circumstances. Baking was something she had started doing after his father began traveling for work. But what started as a mere hobby and challenge turned into something she became an expert at by the time Mr. Ackles left his family. Her baking filled the entire house so wonderfully that Jensen often forgot what life had been like when his father was around.
Jensen sat down at the kitchen table and looked out the window at the next door neighbor’s house. He waved at his best friend Jared, who was playing outside with his mom. He and Jared had been best friends for over eight years already, and were rarely separated. The two of them had everything in common-from their love of animals and appreciation for desserts, to their favorite films and hobbies.
His thoughts were interrupted by two flies buzzing in confused loops above his head. He swatted at one of them, and, in flying away from his hand, it smashed into the window and fell to the windowsill where it remained still. Jensen, remembering what had happened with Sadie and Harley, touched the fly with his finger. Just like before, there was a flash of light and the previously dead fly was suddenly full of life once more. Jensen smiled, watching the two flies continue their buzzing around the kitchen, until a minute passed and the second fly suddenly dropped dead. Young Jensen tried to revive that fly as well, but was unable to get it to start flying again, not that that stopped him from trying to bring it back to life.
Jensen’s attention was drawn back to his mom when she placed a slice of fresh apple cobbler in front of him. He smiled up at her and dug into the pie. In that moment, everything was perfect, and the earlier event with the truck driver was already forgotten. Unfortunately, a sad pattern was beginning to form in young Jensen’s life: perfect moments never lasted. While bending over to pull her second pie from the oven, Jensen’s mother collapsed onto the floor, a victim of a previously unnoticed ruptured brain aneurysm.
Without thinking twice, Jensen found himself on the floor next to his mom. He carefully sent out a quick prayer before he gently laid his hand against the side of her face. All he wanted was for his mother to get up, just like Sadie and Harley had. Once again, a flash of golden light presented itself, and his mother sat up. She was surprised to find herself on the floor, having no real recollection of what had just happened to her. She simply got up off of the floor and continued to pull the second pie out of the oven.
Everything was fine until one minute elapsed. Jensen and his mom suddenly heard Jared yelling for help outside as he knelt beside his mom, who lay unmoving, just as Jensen’s had. For there were some rules that Jensen was still in the process of learning, the most important being this: bringing another life back for over a minute meant that another died in its place.
Jensen’s mom quickly ran outside to help Jared, as Jensen dialed 911 all the while wondering just how much of this had been his fault, and what was happening to him in general.
Jared, never having met his father, turned to the only family left in his life: his two eccentric uncles who lived a few blocks away in a private area of the town. Uncles Chad and Aldis had never been a huge part of Jared’s life, but due to the strange and sudden turn of events, they were now the only parents he had left.
Jared found himself living with his uncles that very night, thankfully in his own home, as they thought that it would be best for him to stay somewhere familiar. He went to bed distraught over the loss of his mother, as Jensen stayed home with his in their own home, which now felt a little less warm and comforting than usual. He couldn’t stop staring at her, watching her while trying to come to terms with what he’d done. Even the dogs kept their distance, staying curled up together in a corner of the room as if they too understood that something had gone horribly wrong somehow.
Jensen climbed into bed that night wondering how things could possibly get any worse after the day he had just had. His mom came to tuck him in, and he finally brought himself to ask the question he’d been dreading for hours. “Is Jay going to be okay?”
His mom smiled sadly at him and replied, “No, honey, I don’t think he’s going to be okay for a while. But he’s not going to be sad forever, he’ll still want to play with you. You can see him every day this summer, and on weekends. You two will still be best friends. Nothing is ever going to change that. Everything is going to be okay.”
“I love you mom.”
“I love you too, honey,” she replied as she bent down to kiss him goodnight. That turned out to be a big mistake as Jensen was about to learn something important about his abilities in a rather unfortunate way. Another flash of light emerged as her lips touched his skin. Jensen’s mother dropped to the floor once more, as dead as she had been hours earlier. No matter how many times he touched her cheek afterwards, Young Jensen could not bring her back to life, for the rule was: first touch life, second touch dead again…forever.
Somehow he managed to get off the floor and run to Jared’s house in the middle of the night. When he got there, he pounded on the door and it opened only for him to find himself facing the barrel of a menacing shotgun held by Uncle Chad (who was still an excellent shot despite losing half his sight in a freak magic act.)
Uncle Aldis quickly rushed past him and ushered Jensen into the house where he sat down next to Jared on one of the couches.
“What the hell happened to you?” Uncle Chad asked him.
“Shut up, dumbass-I mean, Chad. Can’t you tell something’s wrong? Jensen, where’s your mom? Why did she let you leave the house by yourself?”
Young Jensen couldn’t bring himself to answer, but he looked up at Uncle Aldis, crying once more, and the adults knew immediately that there had been another death.
“Shit.”
~*~*~*~*~
The next two days seemed to fly by in a blur for both boys as they sat on the couch consoling each other while Uncle Chad and Uncle Aldis rushed around the house, making funeral on behalf of both boys. The two men also managed to track down Jensen’s father so that he could come take care of his son. Through it all, Jensen tried to hide the horrible guilt he felt over causing both the death of his mom and Jared’s. Even if he hadn’t known, hadn’t understood what had happened, he knew it was still his fault that their lives had been turned upside down.
~*~*~*~*~
The morning of the two funerals dawned bright and sunny, something both boys had very mixed feelings about. On the one hand the sunshine made for a nice memorial service to honor the lives that they had lost, but at the same time they could not help but wish for dark clouds that matched their gloomy moods.
The two burials were held within the same cemetery at plots nearby one another. As his mother’s coffin was slowly lowered into her grave, Jensen turned and looked towards the other burial, where Jared was standing there looking at him. The boys walked to a nearby tree and sat under its shade in silence, watching the two groups of mourners pay their last respects to their moms.
“You know I’m leaving right? Uncle Aldis said he’d tell you. Since Dad actually made it in time for the funeral, he’s taking me home to pack some stuff and then we’re leaving.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t want you to go though. Without you, I won’t have anyone to talk to.”
“You’ll still have your uncles.”
“I won’t have anyone to play with.”
“Well I won’t either. Dad says we might have to get rid of Sadie and Harley.”
“I won’t have you,” Jared said softly.
Jensen looked over at Jared and rested his head on the other boy’s shoulder. “I won’t have you with me either. I promise I’ll see you again though.”
“Jensen! It’s time to go,” Mr. Ackles said, calling to the son he barely knew.
The two boys hugged goodbye, not knowing when or if they’d ever see each other again. The two looked at each other and, slowly, Jared leaned in towards Jensen. Their lips met in a soft kiss-the first one for either of them-and then Jensen was gone, heading towards his father and the rest of his life. As Jared sat there watching his best friend leave, his uncles came and stood beside him ready to bring him back home.
~*~*~*~*~
Jensen’s father didn’t know what to do with his son who was so clearly grieving for the loss of his mother and his home. He took Jensen out for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which only made him sadder when he was presented with the gigantic dessert menu. An attempt to get his son to play with his dogs had resulted in a half-hearted game of fetch in the small backyard where Jensen threw the ball, let the dogs bring the ball back, and didn’t touch them in any way.
So at a loss was Jensen’s father that Mr. Ackles decided to do the same thing his mother had done to and for him: he sent Jensen off to boarding school. The California Western Training and Vocational school was designed to give its students a future, and he believed it was the best thing he could do for his son. He would take care of the dogs in the meantime, and hopefully in a year or so Jensen would once again be exactly like the bubbly five-year old son he had played with the day he left his family behind.
~*~*~*~*~
The days were long at Young Jensen’s boarding school, and were made longer still by a few recent developments in his life since his mother died two weeks, three days, five hours, and twenty-two minutes earlier.
The other children at the school didn’t know what to make of Young Jensen. He rarely spoke to anyone, and when he did, he was so quiet that they had to strain to hear him. And unlike the other kids who received letters from home, gifts from other friends, and even phone calls on a regular basis, Jensen never received anything from his dad. He never heard from Jared either, and he wondered most days if Jay had forgotten about him after all or if his father had even given Jay his new address. Regardless of whether or not Jay and his dad had forgotten about him, Jensen was alone, and he missed his old life more than ever.
He was having trouble sleeping most nights, falling asleep for only a few hours before nightmares of his mother’s last day had him waking up in horror. After the first eight or nine nearly sleepless nights, Jensen had taken to sneaking down into the kitchens where he slowly began to teach himself to bake. For some reason, the boarding school kitchen was well stocked with piles and piles of cookbooks, so Young Jensen began to learn from there, incorporating bits and pieces of what he remembered from watching his mother. Baking was the only way he could comfort himself-by reminding himself of the comfort he had felt as he went to sleep at home.
~*~*~*~*~
Five months into his stay at the school, Jensen finally received his first piece of mail. Eagerly, he tore into the envelope only to find a photograph of his father, Sadie, and Harley standing by a new house with a brief handwritten note stating that they’d moved. Young Jensen didn’t know what to think. Surely his father would not have sold his childhood home, the place where he had last felt happy. What about Jay? He must be wondering what had happened to Jensen now, if there was no one living in that house. Why would his dad move without telling him about it ahead of time? That had to be the sort of thing you would discuss with your family. All of these questions swirled about in Jensen’s mind until he made a decision. And it was this decision that changed the course of his future for the second time in his young life.
He went to his dorm room that afternoon and quietly packed all of his belongings, sneaking a couple of his favorite cookbooks from the kitchen into his small suitcase and duffel bag. He slid those under his bed and waited for nightfall. That night, when the rest of his dormitory and the entire school were deep in sleep, Jensen left in search of his father and some much needed answers.
Young Jensen miraculously made it to his father’s new address. As he walked towards his new house, he saw his dad’s car pull out of the garage where it then stopped in the driveway waiting. As he neared the house, he saw something that brought him to a standstill: a little girl racing out of the house yelling, “Daddy! Daddy!”
Jensen watched in shock and horror while another slightly older boy of about seven came out of the house after her. A woman who was clearly their mother closed the door behind them. He saw his dad pick up the little girl and place her into the car seat, buckling her in while smiling all the while. The boy got in next to his sister and fastened his seatbelt as their mom closed the gate to the yard after letting Sadie and Harley loose in the enclosed area.
As he continued to watch, Jensen saw his father, the only family he had left, bend down to kiss the other woman. He held the car door open as she got in, and closed it and walked to the driver’s side never noticing his son standing silently by the fence.
The car pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street. Jensen finally brought himself to move closer to the house, to where his dogs lay glumly on the grass. Opening the gate, he quietly crept into the yard of the house. When they saw him, both of his dogs came running, stopping only when all three of them realized that they could no longer safely touch. Jensen picked up a long leafy branch from the yard, and used it to pet the dogs gently. Although it would have looked strange to anyone passing by, to the three of them, it was comforting, and it let them know that one way or another, everything would turn out okay.
When he left the yard an hour later, he left with his two dogs in tow. He didn’t look back at the house of the family that could have been his, the family with the father that was his. He just kept walking forward into a new life. His new life.
~*~*~*~*~
Banana Nut Muffins: Inspired by Tyler Florence, Improved by Jensen Ackles
Cooking time: roughly 20 min (minus prep) Makes: 12 muffins
Ingredients needed:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ripe bananas (If you want a really strong, sweet banana muffin, then use overripe bananas-the browner the better)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (approx. 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (Don’t be fancy. The microwave is your friend.)
2 eggs (medium sized is fine.)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup roasted walnuts, chopped (The original recipe calls for pecans, but I prefer walnuts for these muffins.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter your (2) muffin tins.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. It’s possible to do this with a hand mixer, but it’s a lot more work, and the consistency might not end up as smooth. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
Mix in the dry ingredients just until everything’s incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give the tins a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.
Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, which is about 18 to 20 minutes. If you’re using a convection oven though, your times may vary, so check it at around 15 minutes to see how they’re doing. Let them cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out onto a wire rack. Serve them warm or at room temperature.
~*~*~*~*~
Prologue - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Epilogue - Master Post - Art
In a little town in California, a young boy was out enjoying the sun, playing with his dogs, and enjoying his last days of summer vacation. Jensen Ackles was thirteen years, six months, two days, fifteen hours, and fifty-three minutes old on this fine day. His dogs, Sadie and Harley were enjoying the summer day too, chasing after squirrels and dragonflies without a care in the world.
So engrossed were these three in their fun that they never noticed how far they had strayed from home. Their games had led them to a field alongside the freeway where they continued to play, never seeing the large truck speeding down the road towards them until it struck the two dogs, killing them instantly.
To his credit, the truck driver did stop to speak to the distraught young boy, apologizing for killing his dogs. But moments later he was back on the road, hurrying to reach his destination with his precious cargo; the truckload of tomatoes were already three hours behind schedule. The driver was just happy that the dogs showed no outer signs of injury apart from their lack of life- he might have felt guilty if the boy had had to witness something even more traumatizing.
Jensen remained sitting on the ground between his two dogs, at a complete loss as to what he should do. Though he was not unfamiliar with the pain that came with losing a loved one, death had not entered his life until this precise moment in time.
He stayed on the ground staring at two of his best friends in the whole world until he finally gave into his grief and reached out to touch both of his dogs. The moment he touched them, there was a brief flash of golden light between his fingers and their fur. The next thing he knew, both Sadie and Harley were standing up again, barking at him in concern, and running around him in circles.
Jensen stared at them in shock before he started to smile, excited and relieved to have his dogs back with him even if he didn’t understand what had happened.
Tired from everything that had just occurred, young Jensen and the dogs headed back home to where his mom was undoubtedly waiting for him with something freshly baked. It was a tradition he had come to count on-this abundance of fresh baked goods-something that always brought a smile to his face and his mom’s, no matter the circumstances. Baking was something she had started doing after his father began traveling for work. But what started as a mere hobby and challenge turned into something she became an expert at by the time Mr. Ackles left his family. Her baking filled the entire house so wonderfully that Jensen often forgot what life had been like when his father was around.
Jensen sat down at the kitchen table and looked out the window at the next door neighbor’s house. He waved at his best friend Jared, who was playing outside with his mom. He and Jared had been best friends for over eight years already, and were rarely separated. The two of them had everything in common-from their love of animals and appreciation for desserts, to their favorite films and hobbies.
His thoughts were interrupted by two flies buzzing in confused loops above his head. He swatted at one of them, and, in flying away from his hand, it smashed into the window and fell to the windowsill where it remained still. Jensen, remembering what had happened with Sadie and Harley, touched the fly with his finger. Just like before, there was a flash of light and the previously dead fly was suddenly full of life once more. Jensen smiled, watching the two flies continue their buzzing around the kitchen, until a minute passed and the second fly suddenly dropped dead. Young Jensen tried to revive that fly as well, but was unable to get it to start flying again, not that that stopped him from trying to bring it back to life.
Jensen’s attention was drawn back to his mom when she placed a slice of fresh apple cobbler in front of him. He smiled up at her and dug into the pie. In that moment, everything was perfect, and the earlier event with the truck driver was already forgotten. Unfortunately, a sad pattern was beginning to form in young Jensen’s life: perfect moments never lasted. While bending over to pull her second pie from the oven, Jensen’s mother collapsed onto the floor, a victim of a previously unnoticed ruptured brain aneurysm.
Without thinking twice, Jensen found himself on the floor next to his mom. He carefully sent out a quick prayer before he gently laid his hand against the side of her face. All he wanted was for his mother to get up, just like Sadie and Harley had. Once again, a flash of golden light presented itself, and his mother sat up. She was surprised to find herself on the floor, having no real recollection of what had just happened to her. She simply got up off of the floor and continued to pull the second pie out of the oven.
Everything was fine until one minute elapsed. Jensen and his mom suddenly heard Jared yelling for help outside as he knelt beside his mom, who lay unmoving, just as Jensen’s had. For there were some rules that Jensen was still in the process of learning, the most important being this: bringing another life back for over a minute meant that another died in its place.
Jensen’s mom quickly ran outside to help Jared, as Jensen dialed 911 all the while wondering just how much of this had been his fault, and what was happening to him in general.
Jared, never having met his father, turned to the only family left in his life: his two eccentric uncles who lived a few blocks away in a private area of the town. Uncles Chad and Aldis had never been a huge part of Jared’s life, but due to the strange and sudden turn of events, they were now the only parents he had left.
Jared found himself living with his uncles that very night, thankfully in his own home, as they thought that it would be best for him to stay somewhere familiar. He went to bed distraught over the loss of his mother, as Jensen stayed home with his in their own home, which now felt a little less warm and comforting than usual. He couldn’t stop staring at her, watching her while trying to come to terms with what he’d done. Even the dogs kept their distance, staying curled up together in a corner of the room as if they too understood that something had gone horribly wrong somehow.
Jensen climbed into bed that night wondering how things could possibly get any worse after the day he had just had. His mom came to tuck him in, and he finally brought himself to ask the question he’d been dreading for hours. “Is Jay going to be okay?”
His mom smiled sadly at him and replied, “No, honey, I don’t think he’s going to be okay for a while. But he’s not going to be sad forever, he’ll still want to play with you. You can see him every day this summer, and on weekends. You two will still be best friends. Nothing is ever going to change that. Everything is going to be okay.”
“I love you mom.”
“I love you too, honey,” she replied as she bent down to kiss him goodnight. That turned out to be a big mistake as Jensen was about to learn something important about his abilities in a rather unfortunate way. Another flash of light emerged as her lips touched his skin. Jensen’s mother dropped to the floor once more, as dead as she had been hours earlier. No matter how many times he touched her cheek afterwards, Young Jensen could not bring her back to life, for the rule was: first touch life, second touch dead again…forever.
Somehow he managed to get off the floor and run to Jared’s house in the middle of the night. When he got there, he pounded on the door and it opened only for him to find himself facing the barrel of a menacing shotgun held by Uncle Chad (who was still an excellent shot despite losing half his sight in a freak magic act.)
Uncle Aldis quickly rushed past him and ushered Jensen into the house where he sat down next to Jared on one of the couches.
“What the hell happened to you?” Uncle Chad asked him.
“Shut up, dumbass-I mean, Chad. Can’t you tell something’s wrong? Jensen, where’s your mom? Why did she let you leave the house by yourself?”
Young Jensen couldn’t bring himself to answer, but he looked up at Uncle Aldis, crying once more, and the adults knew immediately that there had been another death.
“Shit.”
~*~*~*~*~
The next two days seemed to fly by in a blur for both boys as they sat on the couch consoling each other while Uncle Chad and Uncle Aldis rushed around the house, making funeral on behalf of both boys. The two men also managed to track down Jensen’s father so that he could come take care of his son. Through it all, Jensen tried to hide the horrible guilt he felt over causing both the death of his mom and Jared’s. Even if he hadn’t known, hadn’t understood what had happened, he knew it was still his fault that their lives had been turned upside down.
~*~*~*~*~
The morning of the two funerals dawned bright and sunny, something both boys had very mixed feelings about. On the one hand the sunshine made for a nice memorial service to honor the lives that they had lost, but at the same time they could not help but wish for dark clouds that matched their gloomy moods.
The two burials were held within the same cemetery at plots nearby one another. As his mother’s coffin was slowly lowered into her grave, Jensen turned and looked towards the other burial, where Jared was standing there looking at him. The boys walked to a nearby tree and sat under its shade in silence, watching the two groups of mourners pay their last respects to their moms.
“You know I’m leaving right? Uncle Aldis said he’d tell you. Since Dad actually made it in time for the funeral, he’s taking me home to pack some stuff and then we’re leaving.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t want you to go though. Without you, I won’t have anyone to talk to.”
“You’ll still have your uncles.”
“I won’t have anyone to play with.”
“Well I won’t either. Dad says we might have to get rid of Sadie and Harley.”
“I won’t have you,” Jared said softly.
Jensen looked over at Jared and rested his head on the other boy’s shoulder. “I won’t have you with me either. I promise I’ll see you again though.”
“Jensen! It’s time to go,” Mr. Ackles said, calling to the son he barely knew.
The two boys hugged goodbye, not knowing when or if they’d ever see each other again. The two looked at each other and, slowly, Jared leaned in towards Jensen. Their lips met in a soft kiss-the first one for either of them-and then Jensen was gone, heading towards his father and the rest of his life. As Jared sat there watching his best friend leave, his uncles came and stood beside him ready to bring him back home.
~*~*~*~*~
Jensen’s father didn’t know what to do with his son who was so clearly grieving for the loss of his mother and his home. He took Jensen out for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which only made him sadder when he was presented with the gigantic dessert menu. An attempt to get his son to play with his dogs had resulted in a half-hearted game of fetch in the small backyard where Jensen threw the ball, let the dogs bring the ball back, and didn’t touch them in any way.
So at a loss was Jensen’s father that Mr. Ackles decided to do the same thing his mother had done to and for him: he sent Jensen off to boarding school. The California Western Training and Vocational school was designed to give its students a future, and he believed it was the best thing he could do for his son. He would take care of the dogs in the meantime, and hopefully in a year or so Jensen would once again be exactly like the bubbly five-year old son he had played with the day he left his family behind.
~*~*~*~*~
The days were long at Young Jensen’s boarding school, and were made longer still by a few recent developments in his life since his mother died two weeks, three days, five hours, and twenty-two minutes earlier.
The other children at the school didn’t know what to make of Young Jensen. He rarely spoke to anyone, and when he did, he was so quiet that they had to strain to hear him. And unlike the other kids who received letters from home, gifts from other friends, and even phone calls on a regular basis, Jensen never received anything from his dad. He never heard from Jared either, and he wondered most days if Jay had forgotten about him after all or if his father had even given Jay his new address. Regardless of whether or not Jay and his dad had forgotten about him, Jensen was alone, and he missed his old life more than ever.
He was having trouble sleeping most nights, falling asleep for only a few hours before nightmares of his mother’s last day had him waking up in horror. After the first eight or nine nearly sleepless nights, Jensen had taken to sneaking down into the kitchens where he slowly began to teach himself to bake. For some reason, the boarding school kitchen was well stocked with piles and piles of cookbooks, so Young Jensen began to learn from there, incorporating bits and pieces of what he remembered from watching his mother. Baking was the only way he could comfort himself-by reminding himself of the comfort he had felt as he went to sleep at home.
~*~*~*~*~
Five months into his stay at the school, Jensen finally received his first piece of mail. Eagerly, he tore into the envelope only to find a photograph of his father, Sadie, and Harley standing by a new house with a brief handwritten note stating that they’d moved. Young Jensen didn’t know what to think. Surely his father would not have sold his childhood home, the place where he had last felt happy. What about Jay? He must be wondering what had happened to Jensen now, if there was no one living in that house. Why would his dad move without telling him about it ahead of time? That had to be the sort of thing you would discuss with your family. All of these questions swirled about in Jensen’s mind until he made a decision. And it was this decision that changed the course of his future for the second time in his young life.
He went to his dorm room that afternoon and quietly packed all of his belongings, sneaking a couple of his favorite cookbooks from the kitchen into his small suitcase and duffel bag. He slid those under his bed and waited for nightfall. That night, when the rest of his dormitory and the entire school were deep in sleep, Jensen left in search of his father and some much needed answers.
Young Jensen miraculously made it to his father’s new address. As he walked towards his new house, he saw his dad’s car pull out of the garage where it then stopped in the driveway waiting. As he neared the house, he saw something that brought him to a standstill: a little girl racing out of the house yelling, “Daddy! Daddy!”
Jensen watched in shock and horror while another slightly older boy of about seven came out of the house after her. A woman who was clearly their mother closed the door behind them. He saw his dad pick up the little girl and place her into the car seat, buckling her in while smiling all the while. The boy got in next to his sister and fastened his seatbelt as their mom closed the gate to the yard after letting Sadie and Harley loose in the enclosed area.
As he continued to watch, Jensen saw his father, the only family he had left, bend down to kiss the other woman. He held the car door open as she got in, and closed it and walked to the driver’s side never noticing his son standing silently by the fence.
The car pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street. Jensen finally brought himself to move closer to the house, to where his dogs lay glumly on the grass. Opening the gate, he quietly crept into the yard of the house. When they saw him, both of his dogs came running, stopping only when all three of them realized that they could no longer safely touch. Jensen picked up a long leafy branch from the yard, and used it to pet the dogs gently. Although it would have looked strange to anyone passing by, to the three of them, it was comforting, and it let them know that one way or another, everything would turn out okay.
When he left the yard an hour later, he left with his two dogs in tow. He didn’t look back at the house of the family that could have been his, the family with the father that was his. He just kept walking forward into a new life. His new life.
~*~*~*~*~
Banana Nut Muffins: Inspired by Tyler Florence, Improved by Jensen Ackles
Cooking time: roughly 20 min (minus prep) Makes: 12 muffins
Ingredients needed:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ripe bananas (If you want a really strong, sweet banana muffin, then use overripe bananas-the browner the better)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (approx. 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (Don’t be fancy. The microwave is your friend.)
2 eggs (medium sized is fine.)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup roasted walnuts, chopped (The original recipe calls for pecans, but I prefer walnuts for these muffins.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter your (2) muffin tins.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. It’s possible to do this with a hand mixer, but it’s a lot more work, and the consistency might not end up as smooth. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
Mix in the dry ingredients just until everything’s incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give the tins a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.
Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, which is about 18 to 20 minutes. If you’re using a convection oven though, your times may vary, so check it at around 15 minutes to see how they’re doing. Let them cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out onto a wire rack. Serve them warm or at room temperature.
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Prologue - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Epilogue - Master Post - Art